Still Listening
by lostmoonchild
Summary: A big brother's wrath is something you don't want to be on the recieving end of. When that brother is grieving still for the death of his twin sister and you rip away everything else he holds dear, you can be sure he'll seek one thing. Revenge.
1. Prologue

lostmoonchild: Okay, I'm back and this story is very well alive. So anyway, this story is gonna tell what happened after Rose died and is gonna tell what happens to the siblings. Since nobody left a review, I decided to do that same thing to determine if Rose should live or die... I flipped a coin. Anyway, I don't own FMA or anything else unless I say otherwise.

PROLOGUE

"Big broder?"

Ross jumped and looked at his youngest brother, surprised to see him awake since it was late at night. "Sam, what are you doing up?" Ross questioned picking the small boy up.

"I had a dream." Sam answered sleepily rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Can I sit with you for a while? Until I fall asleep?"

Ross nodded and sat down again, this time sitting Sam on his lap. "Yeah. But big brother's going to go to bed in a little while." Ross said with a small smile.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked, seeing a picture of a girl with light brown hair tied back into a messy braid. "Who's that?"

"That's our sister, Rose."

"She looks like you."

"Yeah, she did."

"Where she?" Sam asked looking up at his brother and seeing sorrow.

Ross shook his head a little and forced himself to keep from crying. "She, uh, passed away when you were about two." Ross said wiping away his tears.

"Why?"

"Because the angels in Heaven needed her. Just like they needed mommy and daddy."

Sam nodded a little and hugged his big brother, grateful to have such a loving big brother. "Why'd they need mommy, daddy, and Rose?" Sam asked.

"So, um, everybody has a guardian angel. Rose, she was our guardian angel when she was alive."

"She was?"

"Yeah. When you born, she took care of you. Every time you cried, she held you in her arms and talked gently. Then she got sick, so we all had to take care of her. She hated it, but eventually she stopped hurting because she saw mommy and daddy. Then an angel came and she stopped hurting." Ross said tears rolling down his face.

Four years had passed since Rose died and while the hurt had partially healed, it was still there. They all missed their sister with a passion but nobody missed her as much as Ross did. They knew he felt lost without his best friend around, yelling and threatening to make things through alchemy then shove the alchemy made objects where they didn't belong.

Lately, money had been getting tighter and tighter until they had to learn to go without a few things. All the kids wore hand-me-downs so clothes had to be kept nice for the younger kids to wear when they got bigger. But right now, unknown to the younger siblings, Ross was trying to make a choice he knew would greatly affect their futures.

Ross wiped away his tears and looked down at his youngest brother, seeing that the small boy had fallen asleep. Sighing softly, Ross turned off the lights and carried the small boy upstairs to the room they shared. There were usually two or three kids to a room now, Ross had the option of having his own room as the oldest in the house but changed his mind since he didn't want to be alone. So he shared a room with his youngest brother, occasionally sharing with another brother or even a sister if someone had a nightmare that scared them into running to their biggest brother.

Gently, Ross set the small boy onto the bed and tucked him in, making sure to keep a stuffed bear near the sleeping child before changing into his pajamas. Saying a silent prayer, Ross crawled into bed and hugged his pillow tightly before drifting off to sleep, praying that for the first time since his sister's death, he wouldn't dream of her screaming at him to help her.

lostmoonchild: okay, read and review, flames are accepted. Hope to have fun working on this story just like I did the other one.


	2. Chapter 1

lostmoonchild: Hey, thanks for the review! I'm not yet sure about how the story's gonna go but I do have some ideas for later chapters (I'm gonna get started on chapter summaries to help out). I don't own FMA or anything else unless I say otherwise so don't sue.

CHAPTER ONE

"ROSS!"

Ross woke up with a start and nearly fell out of bed, managing to catch his balance before he came in contact with the floor. "What!" Ross snapped at his second youngest sister, Jamie.

Jamie frowned slightly and said, "There's someone here to see you."  
"Who is it?" Ross questioned rolling onto his back and sitting up.

"Mustang."

Ross considered for a minute getting up long enough to shout at Mustang for having him woken up but changed his mind, remembering that Mustang could probably give him a job in the Military. "Okay, tell him I'll be down in a few minutes." Ross said getting up.

Jamie nodded and left the room, making sure to close the door behind her. "HE'LL BE DOWN IN A MINUTE!" Jamie shouted, running down the stairs.

Ross shook his head and quickly changed out of his pajamas into a pair of jeans and button-down shirt. Once he had gotten his shoes on, he left the room and went downstairs. "Colonel Mustang, its nice to see you again." Ross said managing a smile.

"Good to see you too." Mustang said with a nod. "Were you asleep?"

"Nah, had to get up anyway. You know how it is. Ten kids to take care of, I'm surprised they let me sleep this long." Ross said with a grin as he rubbed the back of his head.

Mustang nodded and looked around the living room almost shocked to see that the house was actually beginning to fall apart. "Ross, I want to talk to you about a job opportunity." Mustang said clearing his throat a little.

"Uh, sure. Kids, why don't you guys go outside for a while so Mustang and I can talk man to man."

The oldest kids frowned slightly but a warning look from their brother told them they'd better listen. When the kids had gone outside, Ross motioned for Mustang to take a seat. "So how are you and your siblings?" Mustang asked looking at the brown haired boy.

"As well as can be expected. The kids still miss Rose just like I do." Ross answered with a sigh. "It's been tough."

"I can see that." Mustang said with a small nod. "Listen, Ross, I wanted to talk to you about a possible job working for the Military."

"Why me?" Ross questioned.

"You have the patience and everything a soldier is required to have." Mustang said with a calm look.

"You want me to become a soldier?" Ross asked looking surprised.

"Yes. You'll have an opportunity to work with automail and whatever other mechanics you can get your hands on, travel… give those kids a good education past high school."

Ross paused a minute remembering how some of his brothers and sisters wanted to go to college to get a degree. He remembered it had been Rose's dream to go to college to get more of an education but after their parents died, the money that had been in her account for college had decreased dramatically until it was all gone. "If I accept, how long will I be away from my brothers and sisters?"

"Depends on where you go. I trust you remember how long your father was always gone."

"A few days to a couple months at latest." Ross answered remembering always looking outside hoping his father would be back soon. "Then he didn't come home and we got The Letter."

Mustang nodded and said, "Your father was a good man and your mother was a good woman."

"I know."

"Your sister… well, she was interesting."

"I know."

"Listen to me, Ross, how much longer can you keep this many kids around? How much longer until you have to admit you don't make enough money to keep the house in running order and keep your brothers and sisters fed at the same time? You know eventually you'll have to put a few of your siblings up for adoption so they don't starve to death. That eventually somebody's going to come and take them away from you saying that you're incapable of taking care of them."  
Ross admitted that he couldn't always make sure that his brothers and sisters had something to eat when his paychecks went into making sure they had a home to protect them from the elements. A few of his siblings had gotten jobs and tried to help but Ross told them to save up their money. That they shouldn't do exactly what Rose had done, that they shouldn't give up their dream of getting a better education just to take care of their siblings.

But he had a chance now to make sure that his siblings would have both a home and food on the table. That they'd each get to go to the college of their choice. All he had to do was accept the offer. "What about my siblings? Is there at least a home in Central that we can live in?" Ross questioned.

"There's a nice house in Central, big enough for your brothers and sisters along with yourself."

"I'll need somebody to watch over them while I'm gone, if I accept."

"I'll watch over them if I can't find anybody."

"You and I both know the siblings who remember my late sister screaming about you killing the Ishbalin will have dubbed you a murderer. They'll do everything in their power to make sure you're miserable."

"I'll have Riza help me."

Ross looked thoughtful and said, "I'll accept your offer. But there will be a few conditions but I'll write them out later for you."

Nodding, Mustang got up. "I'll expect you and your siblings in two weeks. That should give you all time to pack your belongings."

Ross watched as Mustang left the house and waited a few minutes before getting up and calling his brothers and sisters inside. "Guys, Mustang offered me a position in the Military that would require us to move to Central." Ross said.

"I say no." Four of the kids said immediately.

Ross sighed and looked calmly at his siblings. "Guys, if I accept then that means a new house, food on the table every night, and even new clothes. You all will have an equal opportunity to go to college and make something of yourselves."

"Sister swore she'd haunt you until the day you died if you ever became a Military monkey." Jamie said coldly.

"I know. But sister also said she'd haunt me if I didn't take care of you guys. So in two weeks, we're moving to Central." Ross said with a sigh. "Guys, Rose and I were with mom when she died. She asked us to take care of you guys, no matter what. If I don't take this job, then I'm afraid I won't have any other choice but to put the youngest up for adoption. If I don't put anybody up for adoption, then somebody's going to come and take you all away from me."

"No they won't."

"Yes, they will. So I have to take this job. If you don't like it, then fine. We can start deciding who's going to go to an orphanage to be adopted by strangers who just might not give whoever we send away the love they rightfully deserve. If we don't send anybody away, we can all be separated by people and we may never see each other again. All we'll have is memories and regrets that I didn't take the job when I had the chance. Then, when all of you are grown up you all can run to the Military's office to see if I'm there or not."

The kids were silent as they thought about what their brother was saying. "When exactly do we leave?" They asked surrendering once they realized that there was no way to win if their brother didn't accept the job.

After all, their big sister had given up her dream for them, why should their big brother?

lostmoonchild: Okay, next chapter things will get interesting so read and review. More reviews I get, the faster the chapters will come.


	3. Chapter 2

lostmoonchild: Okay, here's chapter two! I don't own FMA or anything else unless I say otherwise.

CHAPTER TWO

"Wow… big house." One of the kids said sounding unhappy about moving.

"HELLO!" Another kid shouted.

The kids all listened as "hello" was echoed back to them. "Wow… empty. Just like big brother's head."

The kids all snickered a little before running outside to grab their stuff. "I don't like that house. It's too empty." Sam complained.

Ross smiled a little and messed his younger brother's hair up. "Well, once we get all our stuff moved in, it'll feel more like home." Ross answered. "Everybody gets their own room if you want your own room."

The kids cheered before grabbing their stuff and running inside. Smiling, Ross grabbed as many boxes as he could and carried them inside. One of the rooms, he decided, would be an office. Another room could be a playroom for the children to play in. It'd be an escape for the ones who wanted to escape. But there was still a few empty rooms.

Ross looked at his twin sister's things knowing that they'd never be touched by their owner. His dead sister would have a room for herself. She wouldn't be forgotten by any of them. Just like their parents wouldn't be forgotten.

After a few hours everything was set up inside the house and they were currently working on putting the dishes and everything else in their proper place. "Knock, knock!" Somebody shouted.

They stopped where they were and smiled when they saw Mustang smiling at them with a strict looking woman behind him. "Hey, Colonel." Ross greeted with a smile.

The kids retreated behind their older brother when they saw the woman and looked at their brother with confused looks. "Brother, who's that?" Bryce asked looking confused. "Why's she here?"

"Yeah, brother. Who's that?" Amy questioned.

"Bryce, Samara, shut up." Ross snapped shaking his head.

"DON'T CALL ME SAMARA! MY NAME IS AMY!" Amy shouted angrily.

Ross shook his head a little before offering an apology to the woman. "I'm sorry about my brothers and sisters' reactions. We've all had a long day. Just moved in today and we're all tired."

As if proving that his brother was telling the truth, Sam pulled on his older brother's shirt and nestled against Ross when he was picked up. "Oh, well, I just wanted to meet the children. Colonel Mustang says you'll begin work first thing tomorrow morning." The woman said with a smile.

"Well, it's nice to meet you…"

"Just call me Karolin."

"Do you have experience with children?"

"Oh yes. I helped my mother with my siblings after my father abandoned his family. Some men just aren't cut out to be family men, I believe."

Ross nodded a little and watched his siblings' reactions closely. It was obvious they didn't trust the woman, they all learned to keep their guard up closely when a stranger was involved. "Why's she here?" Amy questioned. "BROTHER! YOU SAID IF YOU TOOK THIS JOB THEN NONE OF US WOULD BE PUT UP FOR ADOPTION!"  
"Don't be stupid, stupid. Brother needs a nanny for us since there's more BABIES than the mature ones can handle." Kyle said with a disgusted tone.

"So who's who?" Karolin questioned.

"We've got Kyle, Johnny, Jamie, Sam, Alex, Samara, Jeremy, Becca, Byrce, and Christina." Ross said pointing to each kid.

"I don't like being called Samara. My name is AMY!"

"Our late sister called her Amy." Ross explained. "So we all started calling her Amy except for when she's in trouble. Then we just say Samara."

Karolin nodded in understanding before asking, "Where is your late sister, if I may ask? Away at college?"

"An angel came and made her stop hurting." Sam answered innocently.

"You kids go upstairs and get ready for bed." Ross said putting Sam down. "I'll be up in a bit to make sure you all are comfortable."

The kids pouted but nodded before walking upstairs. "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" Karolin asked looking worried.

"Our late sister died about four years ago. She was sick and nothing we tried could make her get better."  
"Oh, I'm so sorry." Karolin said with a sympathetic look. "How are the young ones handling her passing?"

Ross looked back at the stairs for a minute before saying, "We're managing. There's times where the older ones blame Sam for getting sick."

"I'm lost."

"Rose, that's our sister, went out one night to get medicine after Sam got sick. When she was coming back, she got attacked. We didn't know what had happened until she passed out and we got her to the hospital. Things just got bad until she couldn't keep anything down. Then she passed away. Sometimes the older ones blame Sam for Rose dying."

"Oh dear. That must be terrible for the little one."

"He's tough. If it bothers him, he doesn't say anything."

"Unless he's afraid of them finding out."

"He knows that I know and he knows that I don't tolerate them saying those things to him." Ross explained. "Now if you don't mind, I would like to make sure my siblings are in bed and I'd like to get some sleep."

"Of course. I'll be here about seven tomorrow."

"Alright. I'll write out a quite list of the rules and what the kids can and cannot have. My contact information will be by the phone if you need to call me. If one of the kids gets sick, just do what you feel is right."

Karolin nodded in understanding and turned, allowing the teenage boy to go upstairs to check on his siblings and to get some sleep. "What do you think of her?" Mustang asked before Ross went upstairs.

"It's not what I think of her that matters. It's what my brothers and sisters think of her. Don't tell her but I'll be hearing about what she's done during the day. If I'm not satisfied with how she's caring for my siblings, I'll have her dismissed."

Nodding, Mustang bid Ross a goodnight before leaving the house, making sure to lock the door behind him.

lostmoonchild: Okay, how about one or two reviews before the next chapter? Read and review, flames are accepted.


	4. Chapter 3

lostmoonchild: Hey, everybody! Sorry it's taking so long to update this story but like with my Teen Titans fic, I've run out of ideas but I'm working on them. Thanks for the review, I hope to see more in the future. I don't own FMA or anything else unless I say otherwise.

CHAPTER THREE

A few months later Ross was working in a nearby city trying to keep a crowd from breaking into a military station when somebody shouted his name. "Can't it wait?!" Ross shouted pushing back a civilian. "Kind of busy right now!"

"You don't have until later! You're needed at home now!"

Ross felt somebody grab his shoulder from behind and pull him back before another soldier took his place "Get your ass home now, Ross!" The soldier shouted.

Ross nodded and left the area, getting on the first train he could find to Central. Something was wrong, he could tell. When he got back to Central, he jumped in his car and sped towards the house.

When he got there, he was shocked to see that the entire house had been burnt beyond repair. "GUYS?!" Ross shouted running around trying to find his brothers and sisters.

"Are you Ross?" A paramedic asked.

"Yes! Where's my brothers and sisters?! They were with their nanny while I was away! Where are they? Are they alright?" Ross demanded.

Before the paramedic could answer, Lt. Maria Ross pushed the paramedic away from Ross. "I'm so sorry, Ross." Maria said trying to keep Ross from freaking out.

"What happened? Where's my brothers and sisters?"

"We don't know for sure. Somebody called the fire in and when the firemen arrived the whole house was on fire. By the time they managed to get the fire under control and some guys into the house… oh, Ross, I'm so sorry. There was nothing they could do for most of them. The only one who survived…"

Ross fell to his knees, not hearing anything other than "the only one who survived" in his mind, taunting mercilessly over and over again. "I'm going along." Ross said climbing into the ambulance with whichever brother or sister had survived.

A few hours later Ross was allowed to see the survivor and sat next to his youngest brother, fresh tears rolling down his face. The child had been identified as Sam and from the looks of his burns, if he survived he would be scarred and would be sensitive to light for the rest of his life. But his chances of survival was less than twenty five percent and shrinking.

Ross didn't want to admit that his brothers and sisters were all gone, but part of him clung to the hope that he'd have at least one sibling left to take care of. Losing Rose was hard enough, could he get back up after losing his remaining family? Part of him said that he couldn't but the rest of him said that he'd have to since that's what his family would have wanted.

Silently, Ross took a notebook and wrote eulogies for his siblings, tears rolling down his face as he wrote down each one's little habit that made them all so special and unique. He didn't write one for Sam, he knew that his brother still lived and he felt that if he did, it would simply condemn his youngest brother to a fate he didn't want to accept.

Closing his eyes and putting his hands together, Ross bowed his head and did the one thing he hadn't done since Rose's death. He prayed.

The dark clouds loomed overhead as Ross stood in the cemetery. He stood as tall as he could as could, his eyes never leaving the ten coffins before him. Sam had passed away in his sleep and Ross decided that he'd bury all the kids on the same day to avoid spending a week and a half standing in front of separate coffins watching as his brothers and sisters were lowered to the Earth.

Behind him, he could hear Winry crying for the children that had lost their chance to live. He knew Ed and Al were behind him, both of them fully restored to normal. Al had tears rolling down his face since he had cared deeply for Amy and it hurt to watch another person he cared about being laid to rest.

Beside him, Ross felt Maria's hand on his lower arm and glanced at her. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears and she was trying to keep herself from crying. For the first time, he realized how much the Military had come to care for the children, each of them working their way into their hearts by some act.

His eyes fell on the coffins and for a minute, thought he could hear his siblings all hitting the wooden boxes, screaming at him to let them out. It was a trick of the mind, he knew, but that didn't make his heart stop tearing at the thought he was letting them go. He knew that he wasn't letting them go, not really. He wouldn't let their memories go and when he got another house, he'd put all the rooms back to the way his brothers and sisters had theirs. He'd even put a teddy bear in his room for Sam in honor of the boy's memory.

Tears began falling down Ross's face as he watched the coffins being lowered one by one into the ground. The remaining family he had, he would no longer get to touch or hear their voices. They were gone and he hoped that they were all in Heaven with their parents and loved ones. He hoped that they were all happy where they were and that they'd find a way back to him somehow.

"Come on, Ross. Let's go." Ed murmured silently, putting a hand on the other boy's shoulder.

For a minute, Ross stared at Ed as if he had never seen the boy and nodded a little. He wasn't alone, not really. He'd always carry his family with him until the day he could join them as well.

lostmoonchild: Okay, I was honestly crying while writing this chapter, mainly because I'm still sad for losing one of my best friends and this chapter made me examine my own feelings so I could apply them to Ross's feelings. I don't know if I'll write anymore chapters like this one but I think this story will be good for me (personally) since I don't really like talking about my feelings and would rather write stories where a character is struggling with whatever's happening. Anyway, read and review, flames are accepted.


	5. Chapter 4

lost moonchild: Okay, I decided that I'd better get back on the ball for updating stories so I'm picking this one back up. It's been a real shitty three years since we've had three or four people die. Two of them were kids that I knew in school. One was a freshman and the other was a junior so once again I've been hesitant about working on this story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Alchemist or any of its characters. Any character that doesn't take part in FMA is mine. Oh, right, I don't own Humpty Dumpty.

Chapter Four

Arson.

The word echoed in Rosss mind as he stared up at the ceiling, his gray eyes unfocused as that damnable word echoed repeatedly. His brothers and sisters were all lying in the cold, unforgiving earth while he was lying on a soft, warm bed. Where was the justice in that?

His heart clenched painfully as he thought about his eleven deceased siblings. Rose, his favorite sister despite her attitude problems, murdered by somebody who had decided to test a virus that had slowly killed her. His ten younger brothers and sisters, each holding so much promise, murdered by somebody who had decided to make them suffer as the searing flames burned away their flesh.

He covered his eyes with his arm as tears threatened to spill from his eyes, a lump forming in his throat as he fought back a sob. "_Don't pull any of your macho bullshit and just let yourself grieve."_ Ross heard Rose's voice snap at him. "_Fuck, Ross, you barely even cried when I died just because you were afraid of the kids thinking that you couldn't handle my death."_

But I couldn't, he thought as the pain he felt grew. I couldn't handle your death. You were me as a girl and now I've failed you. I couldn't help them.

He supposed it was a sign that he wasn't exactly mentally stable if he was arguing with a voice that didn't truly exist. Sure it was his sister's voice, but his mind wanted it to sound like her. In a short time, he'd be hearing his other siblings' voices. "_They're connected you know. My death with the virus and our siblings' deaths with the fire."_ Roses voice told him with the same tone that she would use when he hadn't realized something obvious. "_Guess what. You're next."_

No, he couldn't be next. This couldn't be connected but it wasn't exactly a coincidence. A needle had been found among the ruins and its owner was unknown. None of the kids or even Ross had any use for a needle and Karoline's medical report didn't state that she had any disease that would require her to carry a needle. "_Go on."_ Rose's voice urged.

The fire was a cover-up for something that had happened. There wasn't exactly enough for an autopsy and Sam had been covered from head to toe in bandages before he died. They had just assumed that he died from the burns. What if he had died from something else? "_Bingo."_ Rose congratulated him. "_Now, what are you going to do about it? Colonel Bastard won't believe you. As far as he's concerned at the moment, you gone loco from the grief."_

Maybe he had gone crazy from the grief. After all, he hadn't allowed himself to grieve properly after Rose's death and losing nine siblings on the same day only to have the tenth die the next day while he slept was actually a good reason for somebody to believe that he had snapped. Yeah, he had gone crazy and made up Rose's voice to keep him from realizing that he had snapped.

Ross reached over and grabbed his gun, staring at it for a moment. It would be so easy to take the safety off and to put the gun to his head before he pulled the trigger. He could do that and he'd be with his family. "_No, you idiot, find the ones that have been gunning for our family! Use that gun to end their lives, not yours!"_ Roses voice held anger as she spoke to him so she clearly didn't want him to kill himself.

She was right, he knew. He couldn't take his own life when he had so much that needed to be done already. The ones that murdered his family were still out there and he needed to hunt them down and make them pay dearly.

A knock on the door pulled the man from his thoughts and he set his gun back on the nightstand before getting up. Opening the door a little and peeking out, he was relieved to see that it was only Ed. "Hey, what's up?" Ross questioned as he allowed the blonde into the room.

"I wanted to see how you were holding up." Ed answered with a concerned look on his face. "How _are_ you holding up?"

Hearing voices, temporarily contemplating suicide... "Just fine," answered Ross with a forced smile.

Ed didn't look convinced as he took a seat. "Look, Winry's worried about you and I am too. Hell, even Al's worried." Ed told the man before glancing at the gun. Turning his attention back to Ross, Ed frowned. "Ross, I want you to tell me the truth. Were you thinking about killing yourself?"

"Even if I was, do you think that I'd admit to it?" Ross questioned as he put the gun away.

"Ross, you know that taking your own life isn't the answer."

"I know that, Ed!" Ross shouted at the blonde. "Damn it! My entire family is dead and all anybody can think about is if I'm going to fucking kill myself!"

Edward didnt flinch as the other man began yelling angrily, cursing everybody he could think of for whatever reason. The blonde understood why his friend was so angry and just let him vent until his sobs took away his ability to speak. "I don't know why God had to take them away from me." Ross sobbed finally. "Why not just leave my family alone? What did we do to piss him off?"

Ed moved so he was sitting next to the other man and began rubbing his back in a soothing manner. "Shit just happens." Ed told him gently. "Even I got to admit that your family got dumped on quite a bit and that sucks, but you have to pick yourself up and keep going. You can't allow your grief to consume you and make you do something stupid."

Even after Ed left, Ross allowed himself to keep crying until he had no more tears to cry. Exhausted but unable to sleep, Ross just lay quietly on the bed and stared absentmindedly at the wall. "_Listen to the bastard, brother."_ Rose's voice told him softly. "_When you're ready, pick yourself back up. It's okay. They'll get caught and your chance will come."_

But he couldn't pick himself up. He was broken into thousands of pieces and didn't know which piece went where anymore. He had started to crack when he discovered what had happened to Rose and when she died, he just started to fall apart. The fire that had just shattered him.

It didn't matter if he didn't know where the pieces went now. Time would pass and he'd slowly figure out where each piece went. Maybe someday he'd be put together again but for right now he felt like Humpty Dumpty. All the King's horses and all the King's men hadn't been able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again and he knew that they wouldn't be able to put him together again as well.

Closing his gray eyes, Ross allowed himself to fall into a dreamless sleep.

lostmoonchild: Okay, that chapters done so I'll get to work on the other chapter. Um.. I plan on updating once or twice a week depending on how much I get done since I've got other stories to work on and a bunch of crazy shit going on around here but I will try. Honestly, trying is really all I can say that I'll do so read and review, flames will be accepted.


	6. Chapter 5

lostmoonchild: Okay, another chapter ready to go so I hope you guys are all enjoying this story. Um, basically same thing as before, I'll be trying to update on Mondays and Thursdays on a good week but I'll definitely be aiming for once a week no matter what since I hate leaving stories left unfinished.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or anything else unless I say otherwise.

* * *

Chapter Five

The months seemed to drag on and on with every night being a restless night. Ross slowly began putting the pieces together again in his shattered life, gradually moving on even though part of him still screamed in anger about how he was just ignoring the fact that his siblings' killer or killers were still on the run and were probably laughing at how he hadn't even bothered to find them. He had rebuilt the house and had put the rooms back to the way they had been before the fire and everything he held dear had been torn from him. Only a few pictures had escaped with very little damage so he was grateful for those small miracles and took comfort in the knowledge that he still had a bit of his previous life before everything went to hell in a handbag.

In time he knew that he'd come face to face with the insufferable bastards that had taken everything away from him and then they'd pay. Of course he'd have to make sure to hide all of the evidence that he had even done anything so when the body or bodies were discovered, no one would suspect him of any wrong doing. He could easily claim then that it was an act of God, that they had been punished by the heavens above for their crimes. No one would ever know that he had done anything and that he had been hearing his dead sister talking to him for the past seven months.

"_You know, most people regard it as a bad thing when they hear the voice of their dead family members. It just isn't the best sign of a healthy mind. Of course, we both were fucked up in the head, weren't we, brother?"_ Rose commented one afternoon as he shuffled into the house. He just decided that it was his imagination pretending to be Rose since he listened to her when he was about to lose it. _"Remember when we were kids and we fell out of those trees? Mom got so mad because you had that gash and nearly cracked your skull open while I had broken my arm. That sucked big time, you know that? Then we found out that Dad had gone missing and things went down hill pretty damn fast. Mom lost it pretty quick, didn't she?"_

Yeah, so what? Things were going down hill rather quickly now so what would it matter if he was losing it this time? It was hard to lose something that you never had since he figured that he had lost his sanity years ago. "Shut up, Rose." Ross muttered as he fixed himself a sandwich.

"_Seriously, you should see a doctor about your lack of sleep. It's not good to be only getting about an hour's sleep each night. I mean, that's twenty three hours you're awake and it's taking a toll on your health. Go to a doctor, Ross. Maybe you can get-"_ "I said, shut up." Ross snarled.

Maybe it was the sound of irritation in his voice or maybe his mind just got tired of pretending to be Rose, he didn't know. All he knew was that the voice had fallen silent. "Shit, Rosie, I'm sorry." Ross mumbled as he went into the living room. "You know how I get when I'm tired and you know that I don't like going to doctors for anything. I'm sorry, will you forgive me?"

He knew that she would be mad at him and would probably keep quiet for a few hours. After a while, she'd be talking to him again. Forgive and forget, although Rose never did forget any wrongs done to her or their family and she didn't forgive very often. She still screamed how Ed as a bastard and how Mustang was a murdering jackass.

It was when she was screaming about those two did Ross choose to tune her out. She just became background noise at work unless there was something going on that had her quiet. When that happened, anything she told him was important and he paid attention. A couple of times he had caught somebody trying to sneak in just to shoot the place up. He wouldn't have thought twice about them before but Rose brought his attention to them and both times the suspect in question had been arrested.

The young man sighed as he laid down on the couch, a sigh leaving his lips. _"Ross, somebody's at the window."_ Rose told him suddenly. _"Open your eyes, damn it! There's somebody at the window and they're peeking in at you! If I were alive, you idiot, I'd be beating your ass right now, I hope you realize that!"_

He opened one eye slightly, surprised to find that somebody _was_ at the window and that they were peeking in. He got up and hurried to the door but when he got there, nobody was at the window. Running outside, he looked around only to find nobody. If they were hiding, they were doing a pretty good job since his search came up with nothing. "Were we both seeing things, Rosie?" Ross questioned when he had gotten inside, locking the door firmly behind him before locking the windows.

"_I'm dead, brother. Remember?"_

Yeah, he remembered. Every minute of every single day he remembered that he was without his favorite sister. That he was alone with no family to speak of that was among the living. "You could at least tell me who kill you then and who killed our brothers and sisters." Ross muttered under his breath. "Then I could hunt the bastards down and kill them all slowly. That way, you guys would be able to rest in peace. While you're at it, you could tell me who killed Dad. Then I could make that son of a bitch suffer miserably too."

Rose had no answer for him, choosing instead to keep silent. He guessed that she hadn't gotten over being mad at him, choosing to talk to him only because somebody was watching him and it had bothered her. Even when she was dead, she made absolutely no sense to him

Sighing to himself, the young man went upstairs and to his bedroom, throwing himself onto his bed. Rose or his imagination, he wasn't sure which one it was yet, was right. Being awake for twenty three hours a day was taking a toll on his health so he'd have to do something about the insomnia. He hated doctors but he'd have to suck up his hate for the time being.

As he slowly drifted off to sleep, he could hear an his mother singing softly and knew that it was a memory. He wasn't really hearing her like he did with Rose whenever she chose to talk to him. His mind was just pulling up the things that helped him sleep and his mother's lullabies always helped him sleep at night when everything else failed.

When he awoke, he was surprised to see the sun shining outside. He had managed to sleep the whole night through for the first time since his sister's death? _"Congratulations, big brother. You've actually got the brats cheering for you."_ Rose congratulated him.

Even when he managed to get a whole night's sleep his mind decided to keep Rose's voice. Yeah, he probably snapped and no amount of sleep would make him snap back into the state of mind he had been in as a teenager.

Stretching, the young man went into the bathroom and began getting ready for another wonderful day at the office. Life as a soldier, he decided, really sucked.

* * *

lostmoonchild: Yay, another chapter done. Things will be picking up more now and we'll get to find out who exactly did what and why their family's being targeted. Read and review, I'll even be nice an accept flames.


	7. Chapter 6

lostmoonchild: Okay, another chapter ready to go so I hope you guys are all enjoying this story. Um, basically same thing as before, I'll be trying to update on Mondays and Thursdays on a good week but I'll definitely be aiming for once a week no matter what since I hate leaving stories left unfinished. And I'd like to thank everybody that's been kind enough to leave a review, you guys rock!

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or anything else unless I say otherwise.

* * *

Chapter Six

There was that damned feeling again.

Ross quickly turned around, his gray eyes darting around him. Somebody was following him and watching his every move but whenever he looked there was nobody there. It was really beginning to piss him off since he had no idea what whoever it was wanted from him.

His eyes returned to the recent report that he had been studying. A very experimental weapon that was still in its early stages of testing had been reported stolen just months before Rose had gotten infected by whatever virus that had killed her. The notes had been recovered and all experiments had been resumed as if nothing had happened.

It was the product of those experiments that he knew already. Muscle deterioration, loss of motor skills, memory loss, and finally death. He had watched as his sister slowly wasted away until she couldn't fight anymore and just gave up. Shortly after she did, she died.

Ross shivered as he looked over the notes, his heart breaking. _"Don't."_ Rose warned him. _"Find the scientists' names and see if you can't find out if they have any suspicions about who took the weapon."_

What if the scientists didn't know? What then? What would happen then if they didn't have any suspicions. He'd be back at square one, the one place he didn't want to be. He wanted to be at the end and beating the hell out of everybody that had had a hand in his siblings' deaths.

Of course he needed to exercise his patience regarding that subject. Whoever was behind this knew that he was absolutely furious and wanted revenge for what had happened. They were clearly going to avoid him for a while.

His eyes fell on a name, the name of the scientist that had reported the new weapon missing. A smile spread across his lips as he memorized the name, his gray eyes dancing softly. Now he had a name to help him and he'd be damned before he let anybody stop him from finding out what had happened.

* * *

"Stephan Marcus?"

A man in his late forties looked up, peering at him through thin-framed glasses. "Can I help you?" The man, Stephan, questioned with a slightly confused look on his face.

Ross took out his military I.D. before answering, "I'd like to ask you a few questions regarding a project that you were working on a few years ago."

"Oh?" Interest showed in the man's voice. "Which project would that happen to be?"

"Project Sandman."

Stephan stared at him for a moment before sighing. "Why did I know that somebody from the military would be looking into that failure?" Stephan questioned with a small frown.

"Failure?"

"Yes. Project Sandman was never intended to harm humans. It was intended to assist soldiers and help their wounds heal faster. I read what happened to that poor girl. Ronny or something."

"Rose."

"Yes, that's her name. Poor girl, when I discovered that Project Sandman had been the cause of her death, I was most distraught."

Ross frowned slightly as he took out a small notebook. "The report says that the documents were stolen." Ross told the man.

"Higher ups said to put that in the report. The documents were taken, yes, but they weren't stolen."

"Do you know who took them?"

Stephan shook his head slightly before looking at Ross with an almost amused expression. "You're related to the girl, aren't you?" Stephan questioned with an amused look. "I can see the similarity between you and her corpse. Very well preserved after two years, I might add."

"What?!" Anger began to burn in Ross's heart at the news. "What do you mean?"

"You weren't aware that your sister's remains had been exhumed?"

"My sister suffered because of your little pet project and in the final months of her life she had lost all of her dignity. Do you not think that she deserved some dignity after death?!"

"You're angry. Oh, dear, I didn't mean to upset you." Stephan stated patiently.

Anger flashed in Ross's eyes as he glared at the man, clearly wanting answers. "I was under the impression that relatives were to be informed of any desires to exhume the remains of their relative." Ross snarled.

Stephan took his glasses off and cleaned the lenses, clearly not feeling threatened. "In most cases, yes, but you and your siblings are now ghosts." Stephan stated as he replaced his glasses. "Soon, my dear boy, you will be lying in your coffin with no one to mourn for you."

Ross stepped back. What in the hell was this guy talking about? He wasn't planning on dying until after he had captured his siblings' murderers and made them pay. "What are you talking about?" Ross demanded angrily.

"Your father was a nosey bastard just like you are. It's a pity that he had to be silenced the way he was."

"What-"

Ross's eyes widened when he felt a prick, his muscles freezing as he felt something cold entering his bloodstream. "You see," Stephan said with a small smirk as Ross stumbled to the side, knocking down several papers, "Project Sandman was originally supposed to make even the most average of people alchemists."

"It's a science…" Ross whispered.

"Yes, but some believe that it's in one's genes. Project Sandman, for some reason, reacts very poorly with those that have certain genetic markers. Your family, especially those on your father's side, has a tendency to bring out the worse in Project Sandman."

Chills went through the man's body, his stomach churning violently in warning. His throat burned as his stomach forced his breakfast to return, coughs shaking his body as saliva dripped from his lips. "Why?" Ross demanded weakly.

The man smiled a bit as he knelt down, entertainment flashing in his eyes. "Why not? Humans experiment on animals and if the results are positive, the experiments move on to being tested on other humans. Project Sandman is simply an experiment that skipped lab rats and went right to humans. That's all."

Forcing himself to stand up, Ross stumbled out of the room trying to make sense of the spinning world around him. As he stumbled into the streets, he felt all reality slip away as he slipped into peaceful unconsciousness.

* * *

lostmoonchild: Yeah, this probably won't be a very long story but oh well. I don't know what's going to happen or anything seeing as my brain doesn't tell me crap until after another chapter's written. Okay, so read and review, flames will be accepted.


	8. Chapter 7

lostmoonchild: Okay, here's chapter seven. Since I figure that Ross had his depressed moments, I was going to make him sound a bit less depressed for the rest of the story. Let's face it, grief comes in several stages and now it's time for acceptance. Since I haven't been told that I'm going to die (other than typical threats on my life that some people insist on making just cause I'm not exactly the most observant person alive), I'm simply thinking that he'll be planning how he wants to go out and I personally am for the whole "going out with dignity" thing although I don't know if I'd try to get someone to help me kill myself. With that said, let's get this chapter started.

Author's Note: I don't know if anybody's actually reading this but I'll be knocking my updating sessions down to once a week since I'm feeling that these chapters have been rushed and haven't quite gotten the attention that they need.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or anything else unless I say otherwise.

* * *

Chapter Seven

Karma was a bitch. Whenever someone did something, it always found a way to come back. Most of the time it just came back and bit whoever did something wrong right back in the ass.

Ross was silent as he stared out the hospital window, knowing exactly why the nurses looked so solemn. He had found the person behind the whole mess, but at what price? In a year or so he'd be lying in his grave right next to his brothers and sisters. "Well, you look cheerful." A familiar voice said lightly.

The young man looked towards the door, seeing Ed grinning at him. "I take it that somebody's giving you guys hell." Ross said patiently.

Ed shrugged a bit as he sat down. "Well, Mustang's obviously irritated cause you noticed something that the higher ups didn't so they're catching hell." Ed grinned slightly.

"So sorry to be causing trouble."

"And of course all alchemists are being watched just incase."

"Really sorry to be causing trouble."

Ed shrugged again before answering, "Well, nobody really blames you. I mean, anybody who actually saw how you and Rose acted know that it was just a matter of time before you started hunting for the son of a bitch that got her sick to begin with. With what happened to the kids, well, nobody's willing to stop you."

Ross raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?" Ross questioned. "Wow, I was under the assumption that Rose had pissed off everybody in the military and nobody was willing to find her killer."

"Your sister won over a bunch of guys. Some of them had been working up the nerve to ask her to go out with them."

The gray-eyed man started coughing, clearly shocked. "What?! I demand to know their names." Ross said sternly. "Seriously, I want to know."

Ed cracked up laughing before looking serious again. "Well, I personally looked into what they were saying about your sister's grave being dug up."

"And?"

"They were spilling a bunch of bullshit. There was apparently an _attempt_ at some point in time but that much was a failure."

"So how would they know about the genetic markers being a negative reaction?"

"I don't know. Maybe somebody managed to get some of her blood and did a test with that."

Ross sighed as he laid back against the pillows, his eyes flickering towards the window. "I don't want to die like my sister did." Ross told the blonde. "I watched her die and I don't want to die the same way."

"Ross…" Ed murmured, his eyes showing pain. "You're not killing yourself."

"I don't plan on dying right away. When the bastards that killed my family are finally dead, then I'll go peacefully."

"If there's a way to stop it, then we'll find it. You just have to have hope."

The man shook his head slightly before replying, "Ed, you and I both know that I'm fucked so let's stop pretending that there's a way to stop it."

Ed shrugged a little as he leaned back against the chair. "Okay, so how about we have a discussion on the next step you're taking. That's bound to be interesting."

"Or we could have a discussion on a rumor that I recently heard."

"Which rumor would that be?"

"That you're going to be a daddy again. Baby bumpkin number two, eh?"

Ed's cheeks turned slightly red before answering, "I don't know how you know that stuff."

Ross looked amused. "So it's true," he stated.

He nearly laughed at the look on Ed's face, watching as the blonde moved his shoulders as if weighing whether or not to tell. "Yeah, I'm hoping for a girl this time." Ed confided in him. "Our boy's pretty good."

"Girls are a royal pain in the ass to raise. Boys, no problem. They don't get upset over the littlest of details."

"Bullshit."

"Seriously. You stick a little girl in a nice outfit, she freaks if she gets a speck of dirt on it. Put a boy in a nice outfit and he gets a speck of dirt on it, he hunts down the nearest mud puddle and jumps in it. Very rarely are boys harder than girls."

Ed laughed at his friend's logic. "So boys are easier then girls, huh. You should tell Winry that one. She wants a girl too." Ed laughed.

"Dude, look at how my sisters acted. My own mother was having trouble with them until she started to waste away. Then Rose stepped up to the plate and started threatening to knock any one of the girls that acted up while Mom was sick into next year."

"Did they act up?"

"Hell no. They each knew full well that Rose would do it and didn't dare find out how she was going to knock them into next year."

Ed smiled a bit and nodded. "Well, when that time comes around, Winry says that you're more than welcome to stay with us. Even I'm agreeing with her." Ed told the other man before frowning. "But I know that you aren't planning on living that long."

"Of course not. I want to die with some dignity."

"Right. So what are we talking? Lethal injection?"

Ross raised an eyebrow. "You're willing to talk about how we're going to end my life as soon as those bastards are dead." He laughed. "I thought that I had heard it all."

"Just want to make sure that I know and understand your wishes."

"Bury my ass while I'm still warm if possible."

"Got it. Anything else?"

Ross looked thoughtful. "Yeah, put me next to my sister if you can. I'm insisting on that one."

"Got it. Any other requests?"

"No, not really. If I think of something, I'll let you know."

"Deal?"

"Deal."

* * *

lostmoonchild: Yeah, there was a bit of imagination on my part with that. I've already had that discussion with my family and made it painfully clear that if I get put on life support, they are allowed to keep me on it for six months tops and that all of my organs are to be donated, bone marrow included. The burial thing, well, I'd rather not get cremated so they can just stick me in a wooden box and let nature take its course cause there's no way in hell anybody's stuffing me full of preservatives. Kinda sad that I'm twenty and already making those choices. Oh well, read and review, flames will be accepted.


	9. Chapter 8

lostmoonchild: Okay, it's 4:20 Thursday morning and I've been conscious for an hour and twenty minutes now. I actually managed to crash about nine last night since the dogs had gotten out the previous night and one of them didn't come back until two in the morning yesterday and the other didn't come back until about five hours later. Add in playing with horses and no nap, my body was just begging to crash early.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or anything else unless I say otherwise.

* * *

Chapter Eight

Everybody had a telltale sign that spoke on volumes louder than what words could possibly hope to achieve. There was always that little quirk that gave them away, something that they just couldn't live without.

Finding that little quirk was just a matter of careful observation that bordered along the lines of extremely painful. That's probably part of the reason why people actually got into watching another's body language and got paid just to do it. If he had ever decided to do such a thing, there was a good chance that he probably wouldn't have done a very good job and probably would have gotten fired after the first week or two on the job.

Sometimes it was good just to be the brawn.

Ross was silent as he moved through the streets, careful not to draw attention to himself. There was a lead to the scientist and he was going to follow it as long as he could. The odds of the military leaving this one alone for any length of time was slim to none so that much was a relief.

It was amazing what the general public being afraid of one mad scientist could do to help the military. As soon as word got out that a scientist was killing people with a stolen weapon that had no known cure as of yet, the public was willing to help locate the son of a bitch before they were next. Add in that the said scientist had a hand in the torture and murder a pretty girl and a bunch of innocent children that were just barely in the prime of their lives and then suddenly everybody was keeping an eye out for the scientist and his known associates. _"Uh huh, kind of helps that the kids were cute too. Sweet smiles and large eyes that seemed like they could never be tainted by darkness, how could anybody say that they didn't see anything when they have those images in their heads?"_ Rose commented lightly. _"It's not going to be pretty, you know. Those final months."_

He knew that. "I'll take one of those buns." Ross said when he got to a bakery. No use doing anything on an empty stomach. Hunger weakened the body. A weak body mixed in with adrenaline usually resulted in a huge crash later on as soon as it was safe.

Or as safe as a soldier could possibly get.

"_You should probably consider staying clear of the shit that Dad got into. It's only going to get you killed sooner."_

Maybe he didn't want to die slowly, that's why he was digging into his father's past. There was something that the military didn't know that he had been following, something that was just a bit too dangerous to bring in more people. What that was exactly, Ross couldn't say but he knew that there had been somebody else that had gotten involved just like his father had. There was only one difference.

That person had survived.

He had gotten a message from somebody named Jacob Williams saying that he wanted to talk. That he had information that the gray-eyed man would find to be very interesting if he wanted to know the absolute truth surrounding his father's disappearance and his siblings' murders.

After consulting Mustang about the message and just barely agreeing to have a few undercover officers with him, Ross contacted the other man and left a message that he was interested. Just because it didn't feel like a trap didn't mean that it wasn't.

The young man went over to a small coffee shop and took a seat outside, shaking his head when a young waitress came outside to see if he wanted anything. "You should consider sampling their coffee. It's to die for." A voice commented.

Ross looked up, seeing a man with dark mahogany colored hair smiling at him. "Jacob Williams?" Ross questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"That's me. You must be Ross."

"Yeah. Take a seat if you want."

Jacob sat down, smiling warmly at the younger man. "I must admit that I was surprised when I discovered that your siblings had been attacked." Jacob stated calmly. "Even more surprised when I discovered that you had been attacked as well."

"Given a death sentence more like it."

"Yes, that's very unfortunate. I understand that you want some information regarding the discovery that your father and I made before his disappearance."

Ross nodded. "Yes," he answered patiently. "I want to know so I can put an end to the madness before every alchemist in the country is attacked."

Jacob sighed a bit before looking around a little. "Fine," he said after a few minutes. "I'll tell you what you want to know but you have to promise me that you won't breathe a word as to what I'm about to tell you. I don't ever want to see or hear about another massacre."

"All you'll probably hear about is a few soldiers getting to the bottom of a mystery that the higher ups have been going crazy over for who knows how long." Ross answered.

The older man eyed Ross for a few moments before nodding slightly. "It started when your father and I were young men. We were young and we were eager to leave our mark on the world." Jacob pulled a flask from his pocket and took a drink. "If I knew then what we would be doing, boy, what prices we would both pay, I would have talked your father out of it."

"Out of what? What happened?" Ross pressed.

Jacob smiled wryly for a moment before answering, "That one's easy, boy. We saw Hell on Earth and that Hell didn't take kindly to alchemists of any type."

* * *

lostmoonchild: Another chapter done and the story is probably starting to get a bit deeper. I'm not sure what's going on as of yet but don't worry, I'll figure it out eventually. As all of you that have read these notes know, I generally accept flames but I've got a bunch of crap going on in my personal life that I'm going to ask really nicely that you guys just hold back on the flames until further notice. If you guys could do that, I'd really appreciate it seeing as I'm not really feeling like myself and haven't been for the past few days. I'm hoping that I'll be back to normal by my next update so read and review!


	10. Chapter 09

lostmoonchild: It's 12:35 in the morning on April 5, 2010 and now we're on chapter nine. How long this story is, I'm not sure but I really, really suck at fighting scenes. Okay, and I just thought of an ending (if I did before then I just thought of a new one that makes more sense with the storyline) that I'll write down so I don't forget. Anyway, have fun and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or anything else unless I say otherwise.

* * *

Chapter Nine

Edward Elric never claimed to be a patient guy. Sure, he could be patient for a while but that patience eventually vanished without a trace after a while. He'd never have his mother's patience but he was fairly certain that nobody would ever match his mother when it came to seemingly limitless patience. Okay, so maybe the only person alive that could match his mother's patience was a saint but how many saints would be willing to deal with him, especially when he was a teenager? He would even admit to being dangerously impulsive at times and had been sensitive about his height as a teenager until he shot up like a weed.

He admitted to having faults and acknowledged that his faults were what made him human. No human alive was perfect and anybody who actually claimed that they were perfect was clearly full of shit. There was always some flaw that every human had that they had the option of trying to improve on or not. If they chose to work on that flaw and make it better, then that was okay. If not, well, that was okay too.

Ed was silent as he looked at Ross, seeing the dark shadows under the other man's eyes. If he ignored how the other man's body would suddenly and violently jerk to the side and occasionally force him onto the ground, Ed wouldn't have realized that his friend was sick. He would have just assumed that the gray-eyed man hadn't been getting enough sleep.

Hell, he could even believe that his friend had been drinking too much and that his falling to the ground was a result of the alcohol. The muscle spasms and involuntary noises that he'd sometimes make could be attributed to getting smacked in the head one too many times. The brain could handle getting bashed around in one's skull so often before its cells began to die.

He helped the other man back up to his feet after another violent spasm, seeing the pain in his eyes. Ross hated what was going on just as much as he did and seemed to understand that there wasn't much that he could do. "Will you help me?" Ross questioned as he sat down.

"This Jacob guy told you what they found out?"

"Yeah."

"And you want me to help bring it down."

"They're attacking alchemists and their families, Ed. Think of your kids. Think of what'll happen to Al and his kids when he finds that special someone and they have kids."

Ed sighed a bit as he studied the other man. For a moment, he could see that same look in Ross's gray eyes that Rose had carried until the day she finally surrendered to the virus. Ross didn't want to surrender for any reason whatsoever and knew that he was asking a lot.

Ross didn't have a family. Ed did.

The blonde thought about his family, knowing that if he didn't do anything then his family could possibly be next. Him and Al had earned a reputation that exceeded them and that reputation often resulted in problems. He couldn't count how many times their reputations had gotten them into trouble and how many times they had barely escaped with their hides intact. If whoever was doing this decided to focus on him or Al then they'd be screwed beyond belief and there'd be nothing that he could do about it. He couldn't let somebody kill him or do anything to hurt his family. "Fine," he agreed, "I'll do it."

"I'm not forcing your hand."

"I know, but the ones behind this will probably go after either Al or me next. If not us, then some other innocent person and their family." Ed shook his head slightly. "I can't stand aside and let innocent people get killed while I hide with my wife and kids."

Ross smiled a bit. "Thanks, Ed. You're a pal." Ross told him with a small smile.

Ed grinned a bit. "Yeah, that's what I hear. Okay, you'd probably better get some sleep. Let me know the stuff tomorrow morning and we'll work out a plan from there."

"Got it."

* * *

"_You're going to fight a losing battle. Why?"_

Ross stared up at the dark ceiling, waiting until he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. "Because I don't want anybody else to suffer like our family has." Ross answered finally. "It's as simple as that, sister. Would you want others to lose someone slowly? There's already diseases that's doing that and the world doesn't need another one. If we can stop it before it leaks out into the world and becomes a serious problem then it'll be worth it."

"_So you're pulling the military bastard into this knowing that his wife is going to have a baby in a few short months?"_

"He's already in this because he's an alchemist. The ones that are behind this want to get rid of alchemists for some strange reason."

"_What if you don't win? Winry's going to be left alone with two kids if he gets killed. You know that and you still want to involve him?"_ He could hear the anger in her voice and could easily imagine her hands resting on her hips as she glared at him. If she were alive, he knew that she'd be beating the living crap out of him by now just for thinking about endangering somebody whose wife was pregnant. _"You don't even know the absolute reason why they want alchemists dead. God, you're such a dumb ass. How in the world you managed to survive this long is beyond me but you must have a guardian angel that's just exhausted from trying to keep up with your ass. When you got sick, it was probably because your guardian angel collapsed from exhaustion and the moment that happened, bam! You got fucked."_

He hadn't wanted to involve Ed but he knew that the blonde and his family would probably be targeted next. Something just told him that he needed to ask the blonde for help and Ed had agreed with only a little hesitation. Even the blonde realized that his family was possibly next and if they weren't, there was always that chance that they would be next until they finally were.

Ed wanted to help put an end to this madness before it got too far out of control. If they could stop it before it was too late, then there wouldn't be anymore casualties.

He could die knowing that things were okay.

Closing his eyes, Ross slowly drifted off to sleep with his sister's voice murmuring softly to him. He had no plans on surviving the attack, but at least Ed didn't make any comments if he did realize what the other man had planned.

* * *

"Right, so we know that these bastards were around for around thirty years, give or take." Ed stated calmly as he looked over Ross's notes.

"Exactly."

"There aren't any records that back up what he was saying, but some of the higher ups actually remember that event."

Ross frowned slightly. "So why weren't they put in any reports?" Ross questioned with a frown. "You'd think that something that concerns the military's alchemists would be put in a report somewhere."

"Maybe they're hiding it or refusing to admit that it happened."

"Either way, they're concealing important information that could kill innocent people all over the world."

Ed grinned a bit as he looked at the man, his eyes dancing slightly. "What do you say about questioning some higher ups?" Ed questioned with a grin. "Find out why they decided to keep their mouths shut about what's going on instead of putting it in a report?"

The gray-eyed man smiled a bit before nodding slightly. "I say that it'd be a good idea. Gathering information before we make out plan of attack." Ross said with a nod. "Then when we have everything, we blow these sorry bastards to hell."

"Sounds like a plan. Something tells me that this wasn't the first time that they've killed somebody. This is just the first time that they've gotten caught."

"And the first time that somebody's willing to hunt them down despite the risks involved."

"Exactly."

"Well, let's see who was around thirty years ago and work our way to the present."

Now that they had a plan of attack, things were surely going to go much easier.

* * *

lostmoonchild: What happened thirty years ago and why wasn't it put in any reports? I know that stuff that happens is usually stuck in reports but let's just pretend that some things happen that nobody wants to be reported so they carry it with them until someone either figures it out or they die.


	11. Chapter 10

lostmoonchild: Okay, 1:30 on Friday afternoon and I'm just getting started on this chapter. We started saddle breaking colts last weekend so I'm working around that seeing as I can't think about chapters when dealing with colts since I don't feel like ending up in the hospital due to internal injuries or broken bones although I said that they didn't have to haul me off to a hospital if I broke an arm or a leg since all they had to do was set the bone and wrap it up tight.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or anything else unless I say otherwise.

* * *

Chapter Ten

It was remarkable how time treated people when it came to aging. It could be kind to them and allow them to age gracefully or it could be downright cruel and make people look about twenty years older than what they actually were. If it weren't for the fact that Ross was determined to avenge his own death as well as the deaths of his siblings, the brunette would have been upset about the whole never knowing how well time would treat him.

The sickening scent of alcohol hung heavily in the air as the cigarette smoke scattered the light, making the bar appear to have only a couple of lights on instead of five or six. Ed and Ross looked around the bar before noticing a man sitting in a corner, carefully drinking a beer as if afraid that it would vanish if he let it out of his sight or pulled his lips away from it for even a moment. Whatever he saw during his time in the military, it still bothered him deeply enough that he felt that alcohol was the thing that would help him most. "That him?" Ed questioned calmly.

"Yeah, I think so. Looks like his picture before he got discharged except the guy in the picture was more cleanly cut."

"Damn it. I honestly don't think I'd wish this upon anybody."

The two men moved towards the corner table, watching the man carefully. "William Smith?" Ross questioned.

"Bill," answered the man. There was a slur in his voice letting them know that he'd had more than just a couple of beers before they showed up. "Don't like being called William. Call me Bill."

"May we join you? We have a few questions to ask regarding an incident that took place thirty years ago." Ed stated calmly.

Bill looked at the two young men carefully for a moment before sighing. "I knew it'd come back to bite me in the ass. How in the hell did I know that it'd come back to bite me in the ass?" Bill questioned as he watched the two sit down. "Things you do in the military, boys, always come back to bite you in the ass. Don' matter if you do good, it always comes back to bite your asses and it bites you pretty damn hard. Especially if you've done wrong. Alchemists call it equivalent exchange. Us common people call it

"We'll remember that, sir." Ross answered with a small nod. "We're investigating a project of the military's that was ended some time ago. Project Sandman?"

Bill hissed slightly and looked at the two with unfocused eyes. If it weren't for the fact that the man was drunk and this was a serious investigation, Ross would have laughed at his attempt to appear threatening to them. "Don't say that word out loud, damn it." Bill hissed as he looked around warily. "I heard what you two are doing. Digging up the past. Your father was in on it too, boy, and he died cause of it. You're only digging your grave."

"My brothers and sisters are already dead as well as my parents. I ain't got any blood family left to cry over my corpse." Ross informed the man. "Besides, I'm going to die in a few months anyway so digging up the past isn't going to hurt nothing. That pet project turned supposed failure was used on my hide not too long ago and I'm working my ass off to put an end to it before I'm useless."

Bill took another drink of his beer before motioning for a refill. "I wrote down what happened in a report. No need to ask me nothing." Bill informed them.

"What happened wasn't in any report so that makes us think that something happened that you guys didn't want anybody to know about." Ed told the man calmly. "So I suggest telling us what we want to know."

They could see the fear in the man's bloodshot eyes and could easily smell the alcohol seeping from his pores. Ross dug out a picture and set it on the table in front of the man. It had been taken just a month before Rose died. He remembered that day since she couldn't remember who any of them were most of the time and was getting pissed because she couldn't remember anything.

It was the last picture they took together. "Those are my brothers and sisters." Ross told the man. "The girl in the wheelchair was my sister, Rose. She was the first one that died. The younger kids were killed not too long ago in a fire. In the wreckage was a needle that's believed to hold the same thing that killed my sister." Ross watched the man's face carefully, seeing the shock and sorrow in his eyes. "Now I'm sick and dying. The doctors think I have only a few months to live. Every day I suffer from severe muscle spasms and am already experiencing memory loss. The military's giving me an honorable discharge in a little while but I want to do what I can before I'm completely useless."

Okay, it was admittedly cruel to play on someone's emotions but how else were they going to get information? The guy clearly knew something but he wasn't going to tell them what he knew without a little incentive. Ross just hoped that his dead siblings didn't get pissed at him for using their memory to get answers. "I'm sorry, boy, I really am but I can't help you." Billy said before taking a gulp of his refill.

"Yes, you can! Please just tell us what you can. I don't want to die knowing that I could have stopped this and that somebody else is going to be attacked."

The man looked away for a moment before closing his eyes. "Fine," he answered with a sigh. "I'll tell you what happened if that means that I'll be left in peace."

"Thank you." Ed told the man with a grateful look.

"It was thirty years ago. A couple of buddies and me were checking the surrounding area out when we got into some trouble. One buddy, your dad," he looked at Ross, "jumped in and did everything he could to get us out. When we went to make our reports, we were told to take out some of the things we had written. Still got the official reports locked up tight.

"Anyway, time passed and we thought we had gotten out of trouble when we found out that your old man was still investigating and he had uncovered some nasty stuff."

"Like what?" Ross questioned.

"I don't know. By then him and your mother were expecting their first baby except the first baby was the first set of twins. Then sometime during your mother's last pregnancy he had been hunted down and vanished without a trace. I had gotten discharged from the military by then cause of my drinking."

Ross nodded slightly. "Can we see the reports," he questioned. "They might have something important that we need."

Finishing off his beer, the drunken man nodded slightly. "Come on, boys." Bill said with a sigh. "I just hope that you know what you're getting yourselves into."

While they wanted to say that they did, neither man could honestly say that they did. Until this was over and done with, everything they did was simply touch and go.

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lostmoonchild: Okay, I worked with the horses and escaped with no injuries so that's a plus for all of you guys. Since I'm in a good mood, I'll accept flames again so read and review and feel free to leave a flame if you want.


	12. Chapter 11

lostmoonchild: Okay, I know, I'm mean because I didn't update last Monday. Sunday evening, the day after I had finished the last chapter, I had gotten on one of the horses when she threw my butt onto the ground. If I had a saddle, I wouldn't have fallen but I didn't have a saddle so I met the ground and her hoof met my foot. When I got up and on her, she blew again and smacked my head with hers so now I have bruises on my face, ribs, shoulder, and the foot she stepped on is swollen so I'm trying to determine if there's a fracture somewhere or not seeing as I don't want to go to a hospital just to find out. When Monday came last week, I really couldn't move much without feeling pain and even now it still hurts to put on a shoe or to even smile or put on a bra so I decided that it'd probably be better to take the updating day off and update the next week so here's the chapter for your viewing pleasure.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or anything else unless I say otherwise.

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Chapter Eleven

The sun shone brightly overhead as the gentle wind blew softly. Ross was silent as he stared ahead at the small town, wondering what his father felt when he first heard of the town and saw the experiments for the first time. Did he feel anger or did he know that he would one day vanish without a trace? Was he saddened by the knowledge that his children's weren't safe when he realized that he had failed?

Glancing over at Ed, he wondered if it was too late to make the blonde turn around and go home. The blonde had a family to go home to at the end of the day. Could he honestly ask Ed to make such a heavy sacrifice? "Ed-" he started but stopped when Ed cut him off.

"My family could be next, Ross. I'm not backing down from this."

Ross nodded slightly before sighing to himself. There was just absolutely no point in arguing with the other man about anything like this. Maybe only a handful of people could get Ed to back down from a fight but Ross knew enough to know that it wouldn't be him that would get Ed to quiet down. "You're a real pal, Ed. I hope you know that." Ross stated.

"Yeah, you too."

It was as close to a goodbye as either man was willing to get. Neither of them wanted to say that cursed word right away since they were both willing to do what it took to get the other one back safe and sound. That was just a sign that their friendship had taken a more brotherly form.

Both men were silent as they walked down the hill and carefully took in their surroundings. Cars were parked along the sidewalks and the whole town looked deserted. "Kind of a creepy place. Everything looks like it's ready for people to come back but there's no one there." Ed stated calmly.

"Where do you think everyone went?"

"Dunno, but this place gives me the creeps."

"Think everybody's dead?"

"That or took off. I mean, it's been how long since you got sick and revealed the name of the guy that got you sick?"

"A few months."

If their theory was right then this whole town had been abandoned for some time. What had happened to everybody then? Had they managed to escape or had they been unable to? What exactly had happened that would cause an entire town to vanish without a trace?

"_Ross, you need to escape with Ed! It's a trap!"_ Ross heard his sister's voice plead. If it weren't for the fact that Ed was with him, the brunette would have been surprised.

Ross stopped and looked around carefully, his eyes falling on a building that had a cracked fountain in front of it. The stairs were broken in some places, telling them that something had happened. "There?" Ross asked, his voice full of wonder.

"_Don't go in there!"_ Gods, he wanted an aspirin or some kind of pain killer. If he asked Ed if he had any, would the blonde decide that they'd come back with backup some other time. Best not chance it.

Ross ignored his throbbing headache, knowing that he was probably going to lose another motor skill. Bad enough that he was losing control of his whole body. If he lost control of his mind… well, he just hoped that Ed would be willing to drag his corpse back.

As they entered the building, they had several titles that they wanted to give it. The words library, laboratory, and office came to mind rather quickly but as they explored the abandoned building, another word came to mind.

Slaughter house.

The odor of decaying corpses filled the air as the corpses themselves littered the basement floor. Bloating bodies and unseeing eyes surrounded them, accusing them of being too late to stop the madness. "Oh my God." Ed whispered in shock.

"Not here, pal." Ross answered. "I don't think that God's here. The Devil, maybe, but surely not God."

There were so many people. This must have been where the town's people had vanished to. If they hadn't been on the same page before regarding what they were doing, Ross was fairly certain that they were now. "I don't even think that the Devil could handle this." Ed replied as he looked around.

His heart clenched tightly as he looked at a little boy's corpse, seeing that he had only started to decay. The boy should have been asking to go on a walk or to have some ice cream. Instead he was lying in a mass grave with his parents somewhere. Did he ask why whoever had done this was doing it or had he been unaware of what was going on? Kids weren't stupid. They saw a corpse and some instinct told them that something was wrong.

His eyes flickered over to Ross when he heard the gun's safety click off. Following the brunette's eyes, he saw the kids' nanny lying amongst the many bodies with her head twisted at an unnatural angle. Somebody had snapped her neck and left her body behind. From the look of surprise that remained on her features, she hadn't even been expecting death.

Something told him that Ross wasn't the least bit upset about the woman's body. No, there was something else that was bothering him. What was it? What did Ross see that he couldn't?

There! His eyes fell on the man that stood in the darkened room, silently watching them with greedy eyes. "Very good," congratulated the man as he clapped. "You managed to find me."

Somehow Ed got the feeling that even though they had found the man that was responsible for all of these deaths, they weren't going to get him back so easily. A glance around the room proved to be accurate when he saw bombs placed around the room. If one of the bombs even went off, Ed suspected, the others would detonate and send the place crashing down on them. "Isn't being in the military fun?" Ed asked with an amused expression as he got ready to attack.

Ross grinned slightly. "Naturally," he replied.

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lostmoonchild: Okay, it's Wednesday and once again I went horseback riding bareback. Tonight was easier but the horse still blew up since I wasn't letting her do what she wanted. As a result, I played the role of a spider monkey clinging to her while she threw he fit and then she settled down when she realized she wasn't getting rid of me. No new injuries, I'm proud to announce. Anyway, read and review, flames are accepted.


	13. Chapter 12

lostmoonchild: Okay, another chapter ready for your viewing pleasure. It's a rainy day today so I'm thinking that's going to help set the mood for this story. If it doesn't well, I've got over six hundred songs to help me set the mood.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or anything else so don't sue me.

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Chapter Twelve

Despite the bombs that were placed around the structures in the building, Ross couldn't help but feel the sense of safety that surrounded the place. Distantly he wondered if that was a sign that maybe he should probably turn in his gun and just consider himself no longer part of the military. "The game's up, Marcus. Everybody knows what you've been doing." Ross told the scientist. "It's just a matter of time before you're caught and arrested. I doubt that you'll get anything less than life in prison but that'd be better than death row."

Stephan smiled at the young man before answering, "My work will be immortalized."

"Yeah, as an experiment gone terribly wrong." Ed retorted. "You must have something against alchemists if you didn't want to destroy your work once you realized what was going on."

The scientist laughed a bit before nudging one of the bodies at his feet. "On the contrary, I'm looking to make the human race better," he laughed. "The virus that others had been infected with wasn't designed to kill. It was designed to make the human race better!"

The two men looked at each other, both agreeing that the scientist had completely lost it. "Is that why you used it to kill eleven or more innocent people?" Ed questioned cautiously. "The military's looking into every unexplained death and so far there's been more than a dozen connections in the past decade."

"They were all weak! Only those that are truly worthy or surviving will mutate the virus and make it become part of their genetic code. The ones that died are the weak ones. They could no adapt to the changes brought upon them."

The two men knew full well that they were dealing with a mad man before they had even stepped foot into the town. Now that they were actually face to face with him and listening to him ramble on about some supreme species… they fully realized the depth of his insanity. There was actually no reasoning with him when it came to this sort of thing. Either they humored him or they put the man out of his misery although they were fairly certain that he wasn't suffering from it. How many people actually claimed to suffer from insanity and chose to say that they enjoyed every minute of it? Surely those that lived with someone that was insane didn't enjoy every minute when they were trying their best to help their loved one.

Ross aimed his gun, watching the scientist with wary eyes. "You knew my father was getting close, didn't you?" Ross questioned carefully.

"Your father was a nosy fool!"

"So you got rid of him. You knew that he had more than enough information to lock you up. You even knew that if you got caught, they were going to lock you up and possibly put you on death row." Ross continued. "You knew what that meant. With the alchemists getting better and with the idea of putting souls into armor gaining momentum, you knew what would await you."

Ed watched as the scientist's demeanor changed rather quickly. Once confident, he now panicked at whatever thought had crossed his mind. The blonde could actually almost see the scientist's mind beginning to snap. Did the scientist actually fear having his soul stuck in a suit of armor? He'd be able to live on forever since the soul didn't die but maybe it was living forever that scared him. At least with a human body he could die and go wherever it was that he was supposed to go. "Come on, put the detonator down." Ed said carefully. "None of us want this to take a violent turn for the worse so let's all go peaceful."

Both men ducked when there was a sound of a gun going off, Ed glancing over at Ross and seeing that he hadn't pulled the trigger. They watched as Stephan sank to the ground with blood spreading across his chest. Spinning around, they saw somebody wearing a large trench coat standing with a gun raised. "Who are you?" Ed demanded as he and Ross looked at him.

The man was silent as he stared at them with seemingly empty eyes for a moment before pointing his gun at the two men. "Take cover!" Ross shouted.

Both men knocked over the surgical table that rested amongst the bodies and flinched as the bullets hit the table, the bullets barely grazing them. "Who the hell is that?" Ed shouted at the brunette.

"I don't know!" Ross flinched as another bullet shot through the table, missing his neck by an inch. "Son of a bitch!"

Their hearts raced against their chests as they flinched, trying to avoid getting hit by bullets. Ross turned so he was on his knees and began firing his gun at the shooter, ducking each time a bullet came close to hitting one of them. "Are you even hitting him?" Ed asked.

Ross fired again before ducking down and reloading his gun. "What was that general rule?" Ross asked himself. "If you need more than one clip then you're pretty much screwed?"

"Ross! Are you even hitting him?"

"We're playing Duck-Duck-Goose with each other and so far neither one of us wants to be the goose."

How in the hell could the brunette turn a simple kid's game into a metaphor for fighting for the simple right to live. If you were the duck, you still had a pulse. If you were the goose, then you were dead. Now he really was wondering about how he was going to talk to Ross about giving up his gun. The guy seemed to be attached to it just as freaking Riza was to hers!

On second thought, Ross was an automail mechanic just like Winry so anything that dealt with technology was of high importance. A gun was a form of technology and it was used to either protect or kill. With that simple logic, Ed knew full well that Ross wasn't getting rid of his gun without a fight.

Ross took a deep breath and began firing his gun again, falling backwards when a bullet hit him in the chest. "Don't move. You're going to make it worse." Ed said as he applied pressure to the bullet wound.

Ross shoved Ed's hands away and slowly got up again, blood dribbling from his mouth. "I'm going to die anyway, Ed," the brunette said calmly as he started firing again. "It doesn't matter to me if I die of a bullet."

A bullet whistled by Ed's ear, allowing him to feel the heat that came from the metal. Ross's eyes narrowed slightly as he concentrated before pulling the trigger. When the sound of a body hitting the floor reached his ears, he smiled faintly before sinking to the ground and into blissful unconsciousness.

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lostmoonchild: Okay, another chapter done before the deadline so I'm happy. As long as there's a chapter done before the deadline comes around, I'm happy and all is right in the world. Well, fan fiction is probably going to be the main thing that helps keep me sane when my brother goes overseas. Read and review, flames are accepted!


	14. Chapter 13

lostmoonchild: Okay, I'm thinking that this will be the last chapter of the story. Somebody's probably thinking "Oh, thank God! The nightmare's over with!" so I'm kinda laughing at that one since right now I'm thinking that. Anyway, let's get this last chapter down so you guys can celebrate the end of this story even though I'm probably going to listen to whatever song I feel fits this story best for the slight sadness that I always feel when a story ends.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or anything else unless I say otherwise.

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Chapter Thirteen

He didn't know where he was but he knew that it was probably somewhere that he really didn't want to be. His chest hurt and he couldn't figure out why it was hurting so much. What had happened?

Oh, right. He had gotten shot in the chest. Hold on a minute. He had gotten shot in the chest so why in the hell wasn't he dead?! Okay, maybe this was some kind of alternate reality and he hadn't gotten killed but instead he had been transported to another universe.

Nah, that couldn't happen. It was scientifically impossible for someone to be sent from one universe to another. The logical explanation was that Ed had gotten him to a hospital before it was too late and somebody clearly wasn't ready to meet him. With that mystery figured out, Ross looked around the room. "Well, it's about time that you woke up." A familiar voice said with a laughing tone.

Ross turned his head and stared at Ed for a few minutes before giving the blonde a weak grin. "I had a nice nap. Why aren't I dead?" Ross questioned. "I know I got shot but why aren't I dead?"

Ed sat down next to the bed and gave him a weary smile. "What are you talking about, pal?" Ed questioned. "Do you want to be dead?"

"I think I'd rather die from a gunshot wound than from a damn virus. Is there some kind of alchemy thing that I don't know about that makes State Alchemists act crazy?"

The blonde started laughing, amusement flashing in his eyes. "Okay, what do you remember?" Ed asked when he settled down.

"We had cornered the scientist that created the virus. He had gone insane and then he was shot. I didn't shoot the gun, but somebody else had shot him. Then we got into a game of Duck-Duck-Goose with guns and then I got shot." Ross looked completely serious. "I don't remember anything else."

"Well, you killed the guy that was shooting at us and I barely managed to get you to the nearest hospital. You nearly died but something kept you among the living. It was like somebody was trying to keep you from going anywhere." Ed looked completely serious. "The military looked through that whole building, Ross, and they found something really important."

There was something in the blonde's voice that told the brunette that they had discovered something. Whatever they had found, it was something important. What had they found? "Ed?" Ross questioned.

Ed sighed for a moment before answering, "There were reports like the ones you make when you're doing an experiment. There was an entire file dedicated to Rose's interactions with the virus."

"Can I see it? I want to know what he thought about my sister wasting away to nothing."

"Sorry, but you can't see it yet. It's still being studied as well as the virus and the anti-virus."

Hold on a minute. Anti-virus? "What anti-virus?" Ross questioned with a serious look. "Ed, tell me. What anti-virus?"

Ed sighed a bit before looking completely serious. "I told the doctors here that you were sick with an unknown virus that was developed with the original intent to help soldiers but turned out to have a violent reaction with certain people." Ed stopped and stared at him calmly for a minute. "I tried to tell them not to, Ross. I really did."

"What did they do?" Fear was starting to creep into his voice. What had they done to him?

The blonde looked at him with a serious expression for what seemed like eternity before answering, "They used the anti-virus on you."

Ross stared in shock. "They what?" Ross asked in disbelief. "Did it work?"

Ed looked away for a moment and Ross felt his heart sink into his gut. He was shocked to find that he was disappointed since he hadn't even been aware that he had been hoping for anything. Suddenly, Ed grinned at him.

"It worked."

His whole world seemed to freeze as Ross stared at the blonde-haired alchemist. "Don't you dare lie to me, Edward Elric." Ross said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Don't you dare lie to me."

Ed looked completely serious. "I'm not lying. It took a couple of doses but you're cured. You're not going to die but the damage that the virus caused is apparently permanent." Ed told the other man.

He didn't dare believe that this was true. Ross stared in disbelief before looking up at the ceiling. Holy crap. He had known since he found out that he was sick that he was going to die and suddenly he was being told that he had a second chance? How in the hell did somebody respond to that?

For what seemed like an hour, he wasn't entirely sure what to feel. Did he feel happy or did he feel sad? What was he supposed to feel? Was he supposed to feel something other than numbness or was being numb perfectly acceptable? "I'm… not going to die yet?" Ross asked in shock.

Ed laughed a bit. "Nope. You're going to live to a ripe old age… maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Is seeing tomorrow ever promised?"

Ross shook his head. "I guess not." He smiled faintly as he looked out the window. "I'm not going to die young then, huh?"

Ed grinned and laughed a little. "When you get out of here, pal, we're going to find you a girlfriend and you're going to marry that girl. Then you're going to have a bunch of babies with her and they're hopefully not going to endure the same hell that you guys did."

A family? Ed was going to help him find a girlfriend that might one day be his wife and then he'd be able to have a family? Was that even possible? Was there really a girl out there somewhere that was willing to stick by his side no matter what? He didn't want to think about that just yet so he simply smiled a bit. "You know something, Ed?" Ross questioned.

"What?"

"That'd be nice. A second chance and I'd be able to keep on listening to the wind. Every time it blew, I could hear my sister talking to me."

Ed smiled a bit. "I think that virus damaged your brain, bud." Ed answered.

"Maybe. Either way though, I'll keep listening. Just incase."

Yeah, that sounded right. He'd keep listening to the wind just incase his sister had something else that needed to be said.

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lostmoonchild: And the story's done! Since I've never been given news like that, I just imagined how I would feel and so far the main thing I felt was numbness and shock. Deciding that I'd have to work with those, you have Ross's reaction. Now the story is done, feel free to leave a review and I will accept flames.


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